03/03/2020 03:30 PM Senate STATE AFFAIRS

                    SJR 18-WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
3:36:29 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR   REVAK   reconvened   the  meeting   and   announced   the                                                               
consideration of  SENATE JOINT  RESOLUTION NO.  18, Commemorating                                                               
the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
He stated that  this is the first hearing,  public testimony will                                                               
be heard, and if  it is the will of the  committee, he would like                                                               
to move the bill today.                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
3:36:52 PM                                                                                                                    
BETTY  TANGEMAN,  Staff,  Senator   Joshua  Revak,  Alaska  State                                                               
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska,  introduced SJR 18 on  behalf of the                                                               
sponsor, paraphrasing the following sponsor statement:                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
     The  most  foundational right  in  a  democracy is  the                                                                    
     right to have your voice  heard through the ballot box.                                                                    
     Our   nation  is   made   stronger   by  all   citizens                                                                    
     contributing to our governance.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
     There have  been many heroes  in the fight  for women's                                                                    
     suffrage throughout  history, but  the movement  in the                                                                    
     United States truly  took form in 1848  with the Seneca                                                                    
     Falls   Convention   where   eloquent   speakers   like                                                                    
     Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton  and  Lucretia  Mott  outlined                                                                    
     their  dream of  an America  where the  votes of  women                                                                    
     would be counted.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
     It would  take 70 years  for this dream to  be realized                                                                    
     with  the  passage of  the  19th  Amendment to  the  US                                                                    
     Constitution on August  18, 1920, but it  is clear that                                                                    
     we are  indebted to the  countless women who  made this                                                                    
     happen.  Our nation  will forever  be the  land of  the                                                                    
     free and the home of  the brave because the unalienable                                                                    
     rights of women are eternally secured.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
     We   celebrate   women's    suffrage   and   the   many                                                                    
     trailblazers  that the  women's movement  has and  will                                                                    
     continue to produce.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
     Here in Alaska, a woman's  right to vote was guaranteed                                                                    
     on  March 21,  1913 as  the first  action of  the newly                                                                    
     formed Territorial Legislature; a  clear point of pride                                                                    
     for Alaskans.  In 1959,  in the  very first  meeting of                                                                    
     the  Alaska State  Legislature  there  were four  women                                                                    
     standing as members  of the body. In  2002, Alaska sent                                                                    
     its  first  female  US   Senator  to  Washington,  Lisa                                                                    
     Murkowski, and  four years later  we elected  our first                                                                    
     female Governor,  Sarah Palin. Palin also  made history                                                                    
     as the first Alaskan to run on a Presidential ticket.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
     The  19th Amendment  reads, "The  right of  citizens of                                                                    
     the  United  States to  vote  shall  not be  denied  or                                                                    
     abridged  by  the United  States  or  by any  State  on                                                                    
     account  of sex."  A short  sentence with  profound and                                                                    
     everlasting impacts worthy of significant celebration.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
3:39:51 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR COGHILL commented that this is a good commemoration.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  REVAK said  he enjoyed  doing  the research  and found  it                                                               
interesting that  Alaska's first act as  a territorial government                                                               
was  to ratify  women's suffrage.  He noted  that this  was seven                                                               
years ahead of the federal government.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
He invited Ms. Brown to comment on the bill.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
3:41:47 PM                                                                                                                    
ANN  BROWN,  Vice  Chair,  Alaska  Republican  Party,  Anchorage,                                                               
Alaska,  stated  that  the Republican  Party  supports  the  19th                                                               
Amendment, the  unabridged right  of U.S.  citizens to  vote, and                                                               
SJR 18.                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
3:42:20 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR REVAK opened public testimony on SJR 18.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
3:42:57 PM                                                                                                                    
XOCHITL LOPEZ-AYALA, representing  self, Homer, Alaska, applauded                                                               
the intention of  SJR 18 but reminded members that  not all women                                                               
achieved  voting rights  100 years  ago. She  said this  omission                                                               
essentially whitewashes history.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
MS. LOPEZ-ALALA  pointed out that  only white Alaskan  women were                                                               
granted the right to vote in  1913. Not until 1915 did the Alaska                                                               
Territorial Legislature recognize the  right of indigenous people                                                               
to vote  and that right was  only granted in exchange  for giving                                                               
up  tribal  customs  and traditions.  She  mentioned  the  Voting                                                               
Rights  Act of  1965  that secured  the right  to  vote for  most                                                               
marginalized communities and emphasized  that the State of Alaska                                                               
needs to acknowledge  the systemic oppression women  of color and                                                               
indigenous  Native women  faced to  gain the  right to  vote. She                                                               
opined  that sacrificing  traditions,  language  barriers at  the                                                               
ballot  box,  unreliable access  to  polling  stations and  other                                                               
forms of voter suppression should be entered into SJR 18.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
MS. LOPEZ-ALALA pointed  out that in 2004, 24  villages in Alaska                                                               
did not  have polling places, and  that prior to Nick,  et al. v.                                                               
Bethel,  et  al. in  2007,  the  Division  of Elections  did  not                                                               
provide audio  and written materials in  Alaska Native languages.                                                               
She stressed  that for SJR  18 to really acknowledge  the history                                                               
of  women's suffrage  and voting  rights, it  has to  acknowledge                                                               
Alaska's history.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
MS. LOPEZ-ALALA  clarified that  she was  not testifying  to seek                                                               
reparations  or for  the state's  wrongs to  be righted.  She was                                                               
testifying to ask the Alaska  Legislature to acknowledge the past                                                               
and not whitewash the state's history.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
3:46:46 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR REVAK  found no one else  who wished to comment  and closed                                                               
public testimony on SJR 18.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
3:47:02 PM                                                                                                                    
At ease                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
3:47:41 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR  REVAK reconvened  the meeting  and asked  the will  of the                                                               
committee.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
3:47:54 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR  COGHILL voiced  support for  moving the  legislation but                                                               
acknowledged   that  the   previous  testimony   was  worthy   of                                                               
consideration. He said he reviewed  the "whereas" phrases and did                                                               
not know that the resolution  excluded anyone just because it did                                                               
not specifically include them.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  COGHILL  moved  to  report   SJR  18,  Version  A,  from                                                               
committee  with individual  recommendations  and attached  fiscal                                                               
note(s).                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR REVAK found  no objection and SJR 18 was  reported from the                                                               
Senate State Affairs Standing Committee.